Philly’s music scene is more than just Kurt Vile (even if he tries hard to make it seem that way)

That Kurt Vile record? Oh my gawd. The best Philly record in roughly forever. If you’re previously familiar with Vile, you’ll recognize the same juke that Deerhunter pulled with Halcyon Digest: the sound got less aggressively “weird,” but underneath the shinier veneer is an intensified strangeness: a musical force that rips you apart while maintaining eye contact. If you’re just joining the Kurt Vile freak train (of course it’s not because of Pitchfork’s BNM. No, I know. You’re not a cog in Pitchfork’s culture machine. I believe you.): 1) yes, that’s his given name, and 2) welcome to the party.

And one hell of a big-tent party it is. Not only did Vile play in one of my other favorite Philly bands of this millennium (The War on Drugs), in the past year he also contributed to J Mascis’ excellent new album (see his work below on the amazing “Not Enough”), inspired the below homage track from Shai Halpern’s solo project Sweet Lights (also excellent), played with Thurston Mooore, opened for Pavement, signed to Matador, and to top it all off went back in time, hung out with caveman, and invented music.

But, despite appearances, Kurt Vile doesn’t have his hands in every awesome Philly indie rock band. Need proof? Tomorrow we’re throwing down with three of our absolute favorite Philly bands, and Kurt Vile plays in none of them (yet). Join us for our show with Cozy Galaxies, Grubby Little Hands, and Bridge Underwater at the M Room, tomorrow night (3/19) at 8 PM. The internet can’t be wrong: So far, City Paper‘s Critical Mass, The New Philadelphia, and The Swollen Fox have picked it for their featured show of the night (take that, Godspeed You! Black Emperor).